Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People
on the Move

N°
103, April 2007

PASTORAL CARE OF SAMAL BAJAUS AND NOMADS
IN THE PHILIPPINES

Fr. Dennis G. TAMAYO,
CMF

Project-In-Charge
Claret Samal Foundation, Inc.

Introduction

There are considerable number of groups of
Indigenous People in the Philippines
who are nomads by nature -
the Mangyan of Mindoro, the
Aetas of Zambalez, the
Manobos of Cotabato, the Mandaya of Davao to mention a few of these
tribal groups - but among
them there is the most marginalized group - the Samal Bajaus of Basilan, Sulu,
Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga. The Bajaus are the poorest among the poor.
There can never be poor as the Samal Bajaus are. Thus, when the
first gathering was made to address
the needs and concerns of the nomadic tribes in the Philippines it is
the Bajaus who became the focus.

The Bajaus

The name of these
marginalized indigenous people is spelled in various
ways: “Badjao,” “Badyaw,” or “Bajau.”
Apparently, “Bajau” has the closest phonemic
affinity to the language group in
the area where this people belong (Malayo-Polynesian languages). They are also sometimes called by
about a dozen other names
like: “Sama Dilaut,” “Laut,” or “Orang Laut” (at the Malaysian side
of the border).

Sometimes called the
“sea gypsies” these
“once-boat-dwelling people” are
traditionally found mainly in the southwestern Philippines (Basilan,
Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi areas),
northwestern Malaysia and the nor them parts of Indonesia down to
Johore where certain legend traces
their origin. They belong to a biggergrouping called the
Samals of which the Bajaus are
considered to be of the lowest class. They are also referred to
as a “vanishing tribe,” being driven
to near extinction due to exploitation by the neighbouring
dominant tribes, as well as of
disease, starvation, intermarriages with dominant tribe and apparent inability to cope with the
social changes, which are exacerbated by a non-culturally sensitive way
of developing them. At present, unofficial estimates place their number
to about a few thousands. There is no exact counting of Bajaus in the
Philippines, a manifestation of how they are being left out.

Most Bajaus are
fishermen (traditionally, all of them were!) and they live on the bounties of the sea or
on what is left of it. The women go out to gather clams and seaweeds
by the coastal
areas. Having lost their traditional fishing grounds (even gears, lives and all!) to pirates and
poachers, they are left with meager means of livelihood. Extreme poverty
has driven many of them to
work as porters at the wharf and many have taken resort to begging.
Many Bajaus now
subsist on a once-a-day meal of ground cassava and fish. Bad
weather and military operations reduce this diet to practically nothing
for days on ends!

Basically, the
Bajaus are spirit believers. They believe that the evil spirit, commonly
known to them as saitan, is the one bringing
them the misery that they experience. Likewise, they also believe in
the village
spirit mediums
(omboh)
that perform curative rite called as pag-omboh. These beliefs in supernatural beings
and their ancestral spirits have contributed to their silent and peaceful
society and to their good social behavior as claimed by some writers. Bajaus are not Muslims
although they practice what anthropologists call “folk Islam” as they are influenced by their
Muslim neighbours.

The Bajaus are
peace-loving people, oftentimes to a fault. They would endure all
forms of hardship, inconvenience and lost opportunities if only to avoid
getting into trouble, especially with people not of their own tribe.
Hence, they prefer to live in peace by themselves at the
coastal fringes of population centers, mangrove areas, coves
and islets. With
the huge logs which they used to carve into houseboats having gone very
scarce (and
expensive), their mobile dwellings have evolved into shanties
on stilts -
literally a
ramshackle
ensemble of poles, palm fronds, and if the family is better off, some pieces of miss-cut
planks.

Wherever they live, they are considered citizens
of the lowest class: ignorant,
dirty, stench-smelling and
deprived. Many people have very low regard for them
that practically anybody could pick on any Bajau and go unchallenged.
Their situation is a picture
of complete neglect that has driven whole families to flock to
the big cities of Metro Manila,
Cebu and Davao to beg in the
streets. The Bajaus are at the receiving end of all the consequences of the on-going war and
violence beyond reach of government services.

In the entire
Philippines, there are no other people who are as collectively and
individually
poor as the Bajaus - without exception.
Certainly none other could be poorer.

The First Gathering for Nomads

With the visit of Fr.
Renato Rosso last April 2004 in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas in the southern most part of the Philippines,
the pastoral care for nomads in the
Philippines was conceived having the Bajaus as its focus. The first
Gathering of People working
with the Nomads or Samal Bajaus in the Philippines was conducted on
April 8, 2005 in Grand
Astoria, Mayor Jaldon Street, Zamboanga City, Philippines. It was
attended by 20 people coming from eight main areas where Bajaus are
located: Isabela City and Maluso in Basilan, Siasi and Jolo in Sulu,
Bongao in Tawi-Tawi, Pagadian City, General Santos City and Zamboanga
City. The first gathering was an orientation of those who are working
with the Bajaus that there is a specific pastoral care given to nomads
like them as initiated by the Church. There was a sharing of experience
journeying with these Samal Bajau people, particularly giving stress on
their situation and the issues and concerns they have as a people. The
poverty, lack of education, the marginalized position of the Samal
Bajaus in the society became evident and how they are being used by
syndicates to raise money by begging in the streets of big cities in the
Philippines like Manila, Cebu and Davao.

After a deep sharing of experiences with the
Bajaus and seeing the
marginalization of the Bajaus, the participants decided to create a
coordinating body that would take charge of the meeting of people who
are working with the nomads in the Philippines. The following
were elected:

President : Most Rev.
Angelito R Lampon, OMI, DD

Bishop, Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo

Vice-Pres. :
Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF

Prefect of Apostolate

Claretian Missionaries, Zamboanga City

Secretary : Fr. Dennis G.
Tamayo, CMF

Project-In-Charge

Claret Samal Foundation

Townsite,
Maluso, Basilan Province

Treasurer : Sr. Norma N. Capampangan, FMM

Bajau Ministry

Notre Dame of Siasi

Siasi, Sulu

Representatives:

1) Mr.
Ronald Y. Salipio -
General Santos City

2) Fr. Felipe N. Alvarez -
Pagadian City

3) Mrs. Virginia E. Montebon -
Isabela City, Basilan

4) Fr. Romeo P. Saniel,
OMI - Jolo, Sulu

5) Mrs. Erlinda
Chio - Bongao,
Tawi-Tawi

It was decided that
the president will be a bishop to properly represent the cause of nomads like the Bajaus
to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). There were three
priorities but Bishop Lampon was the first priority and had officially
accepted the nomination. This first meeting had also decided to
officially call the gathering as National Assembly for the Pastoral care
of Samal Bajaus and Nomads in the Philippines.

The Second Assembly for Nomads

The Second National
Assembly for the Pastoral Care of Samal Bajaus and Nomads in the Philippines was held last April 27-29, 2006 at
PIME-Euntes, Sinunuc, Zamboanga City, Philippines. It was attended by 30
people coming from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi,
Zamboanga City, Davao City, and
MetroManila: Pasig City and Makati City. This time, concerned civil
society organizations (Claret Samal Foundation, Inc., Community Extension Senvices of Notre Dame of Jolo, Asia Foundation,
Catholic Relief Services, Asia Foundation, Peace Advocates Zamboanga,
and Lumah Ma Di laut CTR For Living Tradition);government
line agencies (National Commission
on Indigenous People Region IX and ARMM);private institutions
(Notre Dame of Mapun, Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo) and Bajau organizations (Maluso Bajau People's
Organization, National Sama Badjao
Movement, Sama Bajau Tribal Group) had come over to
participate in this assembly. It was
an opportunity to create a network of concerned agencies for the plight
of the Bajaus.

The assembly was started with getting to know the
different participating agencies and their work with the Bajaus. It was
followed by the sharing of their different programs
and activities for the betterment of
the Bajaus. A common effort was established to document the history, culture,
spirituality and traditions of the Bajaus as well as to have a
comprehensive program for the welfare of Samal Bajaus; that is,
considering the needed education of
the Bajaus to liberate themselves from their poverty, their health,
housing, livelihood and the preservation of their culture. These
plans will be tackled slowly by
every organization and basic data will be gathered to be brought in the
next assembly. A research team is being created to prepare a
project proposal for the said documentation
and before the third assembly a
Comprehensive Problem Analysis and Programming is being suggested to have a better
preparation and a more focused theme for the coming assembly. The same set of officers
were identified except for the treasurer who was replaced by Sr.
Julie Calumpang, FMM.

This is now the
process that is happening with our Bajau brethren as we are journeying with them.
The Coordinating Body is being represented by Bishop Lampon in the CBCP. It is our fervent hope that their needs and
problems be properly addressed
tapping appropriate agencies and organizations with the help of
concerned Christians and individuals.

In this first two assemblies for the Pastoral care
of Nomads in the Philippines, Claret
Samal Foundation, Inc. (CSFI) became the host organization. CSFI is a
Claretian Missionary endeavour that addresses the plight of the
poor Bajaus. CSFI started with
trying to live, understand, and share with the culture of this people.
It has five program components: 1) organizing, 2) education, 3)
health, 4) livelihood and 5) Culture. It aims
to help and guide the Samal-Bajaus
foster their identity and live a just harmonious community where there
is quality of life rooted on their own indigenous culture.